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An area for general discussions about the English language. Any non-language discussions should be conducted in the General Members Discussions area.enSun, 07 Jun 2020 09:32:53 GMTvBulletin60https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/images/misc/rss.pngUsingEnglish.com ESL Forum - General Language Discussionshttps://www.usingenglish.com/forum/
https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/280287-it-was-not-in-reality-so-distant?goto=newpost
Fri, 05 Jun 2020 11:20:12 GMTHi,
What does the boldfaced pronoun *it *refer to in the following extract from Frankenstein?
This appearance excited our unqualified wonder. We were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land; but this apparition seemed to denote that...

Hi,

What does the boldfaced pronoun it refer to in the following extract from Frankenstein?

This appearance excited our unqualified wonder. We were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land; but this apparition seemed to denote that it was not, in reality, so distant as we had supposed. Shut in, however, by ice, it was impossible to follow his track, which we had observed with the greatest attention.

]]>General Language DiscussionsDan91https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/280161-To-blurt-outhttps://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/280072-Can-I-use-another-sentence-to-replace-the-underlined-one?goto=newpost
Fri, 29 May 2020 17:39:23 GMTHi everyone,
I translated an article from Chinese into English the other day. Now I want to change the last underlined sentence a little bit while remaining its meaning corrent. Hope you could make a suggestion, thanks.
The original...

Hi everyone,

I translated an article from Chinese into English the other day. Now I want to change the last underlined sentence a little bit while remaining its meaning corrent. Hope you could make a suggestion, thanks.

The original translation is as follows:

Thunder Wheel-type Disinfection Robot
Thunder wheel-type silent disinfection robot is a high-efficiency electric disinfection robot specially developed for indoor and outdoor disinfection and epidemic prevention. It adopts electric fan, electronic platform, food and medicine level diaphragm pump as well as ducted fan pressurization, and features low noise, no fuel required and adjustable spray flow. It is suitable for all kinds of strong oxidation disinfectant to be ejected in a long range with good atomization effect. As Thunder can also be remote controlled to drive, it comprehensively meets the safety, reliability and efficiency requirements for disinfection work.

Now, I want to replace the the underlined sentence with one of the following, but do not know which will be grammatically correct:
1. Also able to be remote controlled to drive, Thunder comprehensively meets...
2. Also being able to be remote controlled to drive, Thunder comprehensively meets...
3. As also being able to be remote controlled to drive, Thunder comprehensively meets...

late 14c., "Latin grammar, rules of Latin," from Old French gramaire "grammar; learning," especially Latin and philology, also "(magic) incantation, spells, mumbo-jumbo" (12c., Modern French grammaire), an "irregular semi-popular adoption" [OED] of Latin grammatica "grammar, philology," perhaps via an unrecorded Medieval Latin form *grammaria. The classical Latin word is from Greek grammatike (tekhnē) "(art) of letters," referring both to philology and to literature in the broadest sense, fem. of grammatikos (adj.) "pertaining to or versed in letters or learning," from gramma "letter" (see -gram). An Old English gloss of it was stæfcræft (see staff (n.)).

Why was social distancing called so, if it entails only physical distancing? People can be 1 meter apart and can still talk and socialize.
That's how the terms sounds to me. But I'm a non-native speaker, so there might be another perspective from which to see this term.
Calling it physical distancing makes more sense.

What do you think?

Thanks.

]]>General Language DiscussionsIliaahttps://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/279925-Social-DistancingWhat would be a short description of a assassin in a video gamehttps://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/279844-What-would-be-a-short-description-of-a-assassin-in-a-video-game?goto=newpost
Thu, 21 May 2020 10:12:16 GMTWHAT WOULD BE A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF A ASSASSIN IN A VIDEO GAME

Hello! In my previous thread I wrote: "Down the straightaway = at the far side (back) of the straightaway. Is it correct?"

GoesStation corrected the question to "Is that correct?" with the following explanation: "This and that point at something — in this case, text that's nearby or at least a little further away. It has no sense of directionality. When you ask whether "it's" correct, the reader wonders "Is what correct? Some random idea?" When you specify "this", I know that you're asking about something nearby."

I thought 'it' could also refer to a previous sentence/utterance/idea/thought. Swan says (Practical English Usage, Fourth Edition, unit 145):

"This, that and it can all be used to refer back to things or situations that have just been talked or written about. It does not give any special emphasis.So she decided to paint her house pink. It upset the neighbours a bit.This and that are more emphatic; they 'shine a light', so to speak, on the things or situations, suggesting 'an interesting new fact has been mentioned'.So she decided to paint her house pink. This/That really upset the neighbours, as you can imagine.
...
It is used only to refer to things which are 'in focus' - which have already been talked about. This is preferred when we 'bring things into focus' before anything has been said about them. Compare: I enjoyed 'Vampires' Picnic'. It/This is a film for all the family...'Vampires' Picnic': This is a film for all the family...(NOT It is a film for all the family...)

Doesn't my original example fit this explanation? I mean 'it' is just less emphatic than 'that' but not wrong.

In The Golden Girls Season 1 Episode 2 there's a scene where Dorothy is trying to yell something at Stan, but I just can't catch it. Could anybody help me out?
You can see it at dailymotion.com/video/x4kmq01. The scene appears 13 minutes and 19 seconds after the show starts.
Thanks.

]]>General Language Discussionsemp0608https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/279700-What-is-Dorothy-yelling-at-StanHere being Albany, there being the Bronx.https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/279684-Here-being-Albany-there-being-the-Bronx?goto=newpost
Fri, 15 May 2020 14:57:25 GMT

Hello! Would you please help me clarify grammatical and syntactic functions of being? Look at the following sentences:

a) "It begs to be said that the trial of four police officers accused of murdering Amadou Diallo -- as sad, politicized and polarized as it is -- nonetheless betrays unmistakable signs ofbeing better off here than there. HerebeingAlbany, therebeing the Bronx."
(https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/03/n...ttling-in.html)

1) 'Being' is the head of the gerund phrase 'being better off here than there'within the adjectival phrase 'unmistakable signs ofbeing better off here than theresyntactically functioning as the direct object of 'betrays'. Grammatically the gerund phrase functions as a noun ('sings of what?'). What is its syntactic role?

2) 'Being'looks like a verb grammatically. But why notis?

3) Is 'being' a part of the structure to be + subject complement ('the umpires')? If so, can I change it to 'to be': 'You don’t want robots out there to be the umpires'?

Q1: Does the following sentence say how long it will take John to write a book?

a. John will write a book in nine months' time.

Q2: Could the following sentence mean it will take John nine months or less to write a book?

b. John will write a book in nine months.

I'd appreciate your help.

]]>General Language Discussionsraymondaliasapollyonhttps://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/279676-write-a-book-in-nine-months-timeWhat are we talking/do we talk about when we talk about X?https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/279588-What-are-we-talking-do-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-X?goto=newpost
Tue, 12 May 2020 13:28:11 GMT

Hello! Sometimes I come across sentences like ''What are we talking about/do we talk about when we talk about happiness/love/life/business?"

Is there any difference in meaning between variants with and without the present progressive?

I couldn't find any variants with the present progressive + the present progressive or the present simple + the present progressive. Are these variants impossible? If so, why?

In "You can do worse than become a lawyer" (a more common alternative is "You could do worse than"), what does the "can" mean?
Some people say it is used to indicate possibility, but there are different types of possibility. What kind of possibility does the "can" indicate?